Are You Genetically Prone to Balding?

Posted on November 15, 2016March 4, 2017

If you have a family history of balding, you may already be experiencing the anxiety of hair loss. But there are other reasons that can cause balding.

Most people normally shed 50 to 100 hairs a day. This usually doesn’t cause noticeable thinning of scalp hair because new hair is growing in at the same time. Hair loss occurs when this cycle of hair growth and shedding is disrupted or when the hair follicle is destroyed and replaced with scar tissue.

Hair loss is most commonly related to one or more of the following factors:

Family history (heredity)

Hormonal changes

Medical conditions

Medications

Baldness as a hereditary condition is known as male-pattern baldness or female-pattern baldness. It usually occurs gradually and in predictable patterns — a receding hairline and bald spots in men and thinning hair in women.

Heredity also affects the age at which you begin to lose hair, the rate of hair loss and the extent of baldness. Pattern baldness is most common in men and can begin as early as puberty. This type of hair loss may involve both hair thinning and miniaturization (hair becomes soft, fine and short).

Hormonal changes and imbalances can cause temporary hair loss. This could be due to pregnancy, childbirth or the onset of menopause. Hormone levels are also affected by the thyroid gland, so thyroid problems may cause hair loss.

Infections, such as ringworm, can invade the hair and skin of your scalp, leading to scaly patches and hair loss. Once infections are treated, hair generally grows back.

Diseases that cause scarring alopecia may result in permanent loss at the scarred areas. These conditions include lichen planus, some types of lupus and sarcoidosis.

A hair-pulling disorder called trichotillomania causes people to have an irresistible urge to pull out their hair, whether it’s from the scalp, the eyebrows or other areas of the body.

Hair loss can be caused by drugs used for cancer, arthritis, depression, heart problems, high blood pressure and birth control. Intake of too much vitamin A may cause hair loss as well.

Other causes of hair loss can include radiation therapy to the head. The hair may not grow back the same as it was before. Many people experience a general thinning of hair several months after a physical or emotional shock. This type of hair loss is temporary. Examples of trigger events include sudden or excessive weight loss, a high fever, surgery, or a death in the family.

Excessive hairstyling or hairstyles that pull your hair tight, such as pigtails or cornrows, can cause traction alopecia. Hot oil hair treatments and permanents can cause inflammation of hair follicles that leads to hair loss. If scarring occurs, hair loss could be permanent.

Regardless of how you may encounter balding, you’ll be glad to know you can get that full head of hair back that you started out with. It’s a much sought-after hair restoration procedure called Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE).

Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) is the most successful and widely used method of performing hair transplants using the revolutionary Neograft device. FUE has come a long way since it was first introduced in the early 1990’s. Because early adapters of the technique found it to be extremely labor intensive when performed correctly, and limited by the number of grafts that could be safely harvested intact, per procedure – a faster, more effective process was needed. This prompted the development of the Neograft device.

With the Neograft device, hair follicles are removed with gentle pneumatic pressure, so there is less risk of damaging the follicle, or driving the follicle into the skin, as sometimes happens with traditional surgery. The physician controls the pressure needed for extraction based on the tightness of the individual scalp. There is no incision or suturing so healing time is faster. The most important aspect of the procedure is in the expertise of the hair transplant surgeon.

So if you’re not ready to give up on a great looking head of hair, then don’t. Contact the folks at NeoGraft Dallas and make an appointment for a consultation. Remember, balding is an option, not the end of the road.